Bain Capital and GIC together now own the stake after it paid around $250 million in the deal that got signed last weekET Bureau | Updated: December 25, 2015, 09:49 IST

Warburg Pincus is said to have earned more than three times its investment in engineering services company Quest Global after agreeing to sell the 25 per cent stake to Bain Capital and GIC.Global private equity fund Warburg Pincus is said to have earned more than three times its investment in engineering services company Quest Global after agreeing to sell the 25 per cent stake to Bain Capital and GIC of Singapore. Following the deal, the company is valued at $1 billion, said three people with knowledge of the development.

In 2010, Warburg had trumped Bain to pick up the stake for $75 million. Bain Capital and GIC together now own the stake after it paid around $250 million in the deal that got signed last week but is yet to be announced, said the people cited above.

Some primary capital is also being pumped into the company and stock options held by employees will also be bought, said another person with knowledge of the deal.

Bain declined comment while spokesperson for Warburg Pincus did not respond to emailed query.

Founded in 1997 by Ajit Prabhu and Aravind Melligere, Quest has $300 million in revenue and a projected consolidated operating profit of around $84 million this fiscal. Offering services in aerospace, defence, power generation, oil and gas, industrial and FMCG (fastmoving consumer goods) segments, it counts Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Airbus as clients. The Singapore-headquartered company has 7,300 employees working in 31 centres globally.

The company has grown through acquisitions, including buyouts of NeST Software and Germany-based EDF in the past year. The Bain and GIC consortium beat out rival Advent International when bids were made in the first week of December. Regulatory approvals are awaited before an announcement is made, sources said.

Warburg Pincus, which raised a $12 billion fund recently, has invested more than $1 billion in the last 18 months and clocked more than $500 million through exits in the same period.

2015 has undoubtedly been its busiest year in the recent past, having invested $712 million through four marquee deals in the Indian market. It made a Rs 1,800 crore ($284 million) investment in Piramal Realty. It entered a joint venture with real estate developer Embassy Group to build industrial parks and warehouses in India with an investment of $250 million.

Last year, it invested around Rs 1,200 crore in Kalyan Jewelers of the total $413 million it invested in seven companies. This year, Warburg exited its investment in Metropolis, earning more than $100 million after selling its 27 per cent stake back to founders Sushil Shah and his family.